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The Evolution of Cakes

I have enjoyed baking cakes for my friends and family for as long as I can remember. With a lot of patience and determination I have managed to improve my skills with the recipes themselves and decorating. Here you can see my evolution as I’ve grown as a baker. 

I clearly have a thing for raspberries on top of cakes :)

Coconut Cake - recipe courtesy of Ina Garten. The cake has actual coconut flakes in it, along with a splash of almond extract to bring out the coconut flavor. I then topped the cake with a decadent cream cheese frosting and then added toasted coconut around the cake. It was amazing! 10/10 recommend it. 

This was my favorite cake I’ve made to date. I make a chocolate cake that was extremely moist and rich. Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten (her chocolate cake recipe is to die for). I then added peanut butter frosting between the two cake layers and covered it with the frosting, melted chocolate and chopped up mini peanut butter cups. It was an amazing addition to a Christmas party. 

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About Me

Hi there! My name is Gabi and I live in Southern Maine. I’m 23 years old and I have a dog named Duke who is almost 4 years old. We love to adventure on the trails in the woods around us and he loves to be outdoors. After we spend time together outside I love to come home and cook dinner. I love cooking and baking and I actually worked as a baker for about 8 months and it taught me how to be organized in the kitchen and most importantly it revealed my creative side. I love creating art with food, making things look pretty while also tasting good. I love to play with recipes and tweak them to make them my own. I have created my own cookie, whoopie pie, cake and many other recipes. It has been a wonderful experience and I am finally deciding to share it online. I hope you enjoy my creations and discoveries!

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Sushi Night

My friends and I always enjoy a good visit to our local sushi restaurants but it can get expensive and boring going to the same places over and over again. So my friends and I decided to have our own sushi night. Even though we are all from Maine, we don’t enjoy seafood as much as the normal “Mainer”, so we stuck to a vegetarian night which ended up working perfectly for our vegan friends, too. So we grabbed our bags and headed to the store to grab our ingredients, here’s what we got:

- sushi wraps

- sushi rice

- wasabi

- soy sauce

- yellow pepper

- green beans

- carrots

- cucumber

- sweet potato

- avocados 

Making sushi can be a bit intimidating mostly because of all the prep you have to do, but if you have a group of friends to do it with it goes by much faster and it’s more fun! We sliced up all the veggies into long strips and we decided to fry the sweet potato and green beans in a tempura batter. While you’re prepping all your veggies you can have the sushi rice cooking in the background. Next comes the time to roll everything up. We didn’t have any bamboo mats but we made it work.

I used wax paper to place the sushi wraps on and built the roll from there. I used the wax paper to help me roll the sushi into a tight roll. Then I sliced the rolls with a sharp knife and served the rolls with soy sauce and wasabi. It was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time. 

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The Salad Bowl Trend

Recently on my feeds on social media I have been seeing so many variations of salad bowls filled with lettuce, rice, veggies and all sorts of other awesome ingredients. I decided to try and re-create some of my own. I love getting the taco bowls at Chipotle so I tried to make my own. I also decided to make another salad with leftover ingredients from my taco bowl. 

Taco Bowl

I started off making some red quinoa, then I sauteed some red onions, green pepper and corn with spices. I then cooked chicken with Creole seasoning then shredded it when it was finished. To plate the taco bowl I started with a base of spinach, then added the sauteed veggies. Next I added some pinto beans I had dried out in the oven, then the chicken, quinoa and some shredded red cabbage. To make it even better I added sour cream, mashed avocado and tortilla chips. Of course you have to serve it with a lime wedge to add a squeeze of freshness. 

My Leftover Salad Bowl 

After making my taco bowl the night before I had a bunch of leftover quinoa. To make my salad I started off my cutting up a rainbow of vegetables. If you haven’t tried the colorful carrots at the store, you’re missing out. I used the orange, yellow and purple carrots and julienned them. I also julienned some red bell pepper and red cabbage. Next I used the leftover avocado I had from the night before and added some Texas Toast Croutons. I topped the salad off with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and used a spinach spring mix as my greens. Next time you make a salad make sure to try all the colorful veggies available at the store. 

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Peanut Butter Cookies

This has been my all time favorite recipe for a long time. I worked hard to create the perfect cookie batter for my favorite cookie. Whenever I make these cookies I always wish I had made more. They are the best cookie for any time of year. They are easy to make and easy to enjoy. Here’s the recipe...it should make roughly 14 cookies.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup softened unsalted butter

- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (you can use crunchy for added texture)

- 3/4 cups white sugar

- 3/4 cups brown sugar

- 2 eggs, at room temperature

- 1 generous teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 2 1/2 cups white flour

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 tablespoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. This should take about two minutes. Scrape the bowl down.

3. Beat in the vanilla extract and eggs one at a time until combined. 

4. Whisk together the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Make sure the dough is just combined then finish mixing together with a spatula. 

6. Scoop the dough out onto a cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop.

7. Bake the cookies for 7-12 minutes (depends on your oven and how crispy you like your cookies). Let them cool on a cooling rack then enjoy the cookies with some friends and family. 

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Whole Wheat Pancake Recipe

Here is my favorite recipe for pancakes. I like to add a little whole wheat flour for extra flavor and nutrition. The whole wheat flour also makes the pancakes much more filling, giving you the energy you need to get through those morning and early afternoon hours. 

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

- 3/4 cup white flour

- 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

- 3 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter

- 1 egg, beaten at room temperature 

- 1 1/4 cups milk of your choice (I use whole milk) at room temperature

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- add blueberries or chocolate chips if you desire

Steps:

1. Sift together the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.

2. Preheat a large pan (I love using cast iron) and melt some butter or oil into the pan.

3. Beat the egg, vanilla, milk and the butter together until well combined. 

4. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is just combined, be careful not to over-mix so the batter doesn’t become tough and chewy. 

5. Spoon the batter onto the hot pan into desired shape and size. Cook until bubbles begin to form on the top, than you know it’s time to flip the pancake. Cook until both sides are golden brown.

6. Enjoy with your favorite toppings and syrup(s). 

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Breakfast or Brunch?

One of my favorite meals is breakfast/brunch. Sometimes I have breakfast at 8:30 and other times it’s more a brunch I end up making around 11:30. I love serving it to other people including my friends and family on the weekends. I love creating colorful plates with fresh fruit and veggies. So many people stick to the same boring breakfast routines of cereal and coffee, or toast and tea. I like to switch it up by taking the usual breakfast and brunch recipes and adding my own twist and flare to them. Here are three of my favorite breakfast and brunch creations. 

1. Whole Wheat Pancakes

Whole wheat pancakes with fresh organic raspberries. Wicked Joe’s Bella Maria coffee is a must-try! It’s the perfect blend of sweet and acidic. Top your pancakes with a little maple syrup - or molasses if you’re like my dad. See recipes tab for my favorite pancake recipe. 

2. French Toast

Like I said I love serving my friends and family food. Here I made a Mother’s Day brunch for my mom, sister and me. I picked up a fresh loaf of sourdough bread from the When Pigs Fly Bakery in Freeport, then I whipped up the batter to dunk the bread in. I used three eggs, whole milk, cinnamon and vanilla extract to make a batter that’s a little sweet, but not overwhelming. The best way is to top your french toast with lots of fresh berries and a sprinkle or powdered sugar for aesthetic. 

  3. Eggs and Toast - The Right Way

I’m all about the color, textures and flavors. Here I fried two eggs in olive oil and served it with the best white toast around, Big Sky Bread Company’s Old Fashioned White Bread. Take your eggs and toast to the next level by smashing a perfectly ripe avocado on the toast before topping it with your egg. Finish the breakfast off with fresh pineapple and strawberries and....YUM!

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Cranberry Orange Scones

How to make scones, like the ones at Maple’s Bakery, in the comfort of your own home. This time around I decided to make cranberry orange scones with a drizzle of orange icing on top. These scones definitely work best with a dried fruit, over frozen fruit. The recipe I used was from the Betty Crocker Cookbook and I added a couple twist of my own to it. Hope you enjoy!

Recipe:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

3 tablespoons of sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/3 cup firm cubed butter

1 large free range egg, beaten

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 tablespoon of orange zest

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

4-6 tablespoons of half & half

Bake at 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 14-16 minutes until golden brown.